Cole Marsh, 17, dies after plunging into waters of North Vancouver's Lynn Canyon
Best friend hoped news was a 'sick joke' because it eerily mimicked dream he shared with Marsh last fall
Friends are remembering Cole Marsh, the teenage boy who died at Lynn Canyon in North Vancouver Monday, as a kind peacemaker, a hard-working athlete and an "adrenaline junkie."
Marsh, 17, was a promising lacrosse player who would have graduated this spring from Terry Fox Secondary in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
Witnesses said they saw him jump from a cliff into the cold and fast-flowing waters near Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge — a common, but dangerous place for thrill-seekers to leap from the rocks.
Marsh's best friend, Jeremy Diffner, 18, said they often jumped there together, but not yesterday.
"We both pushed each other to try bigger and bigger things, but I always told him, don't go alone."
His parents were brought to the scene today by RCMP Victim Services, and stood on the suspension bridge to look at the water where their son died.
As of Tuesday afternoon, his body was still there. The water was running too high and fast to safely search the river, said North Vancouver RCMP Sgt. Doug Brecknell.
Death eerily mimics dream
When Diffner heard about Marsh's death, at first he thought it was a "sick joke," because it seemed eerily similar to a dream he'd texted Marsh last October.
"I had a dream that there was a big dam and for whatever reason he wanted to jump off, and he was an adrenaline junkie so ... and without any warning he just jumped," Diffner remembered in an interview.
"The biggest roller coaster of emotions I've ever went through," Diffner texted to Marsh in October, describing the dream. Marsh posted the text to Facebook with the caption, "when your best friend and cliff-jumping buddy has dreams about you ahahah."
In the dream, everyone thought Marsh died, but he swam away fine.
"I really hoped that was the case this time," said Diffner, "but it wasn't."
RCMP are still investigating exactly how Marsh ended up in the water, but "to the best of our knowledge it was a jump and not a fall," said Brecknell. He was with others at the time, but police haven't specified with who.
'He had everything coming'
At Marsh's high school, friends and classmates spoke about his humour and kindness.
"He was always such a nice guy," said Jacob Federici, a Grade 11 student who played lacrosse with Marsh.
"He was like the peacemaker and stuff, when some kids were ... picking on each other on the team, he'd be like yo it's not right, we're a team."
Had the honour of coaching Cole Marsh for a number of years. One of the hardest working athletes I've met, always wanted to get better. RIP.
—@JLashar"Probably the most positive guy you could ever meet. Full of life, adventurous, as you can clearly tell," said friend Taylor Poitras, who is also in Grade 12.
He was supposed to start a new job at Earls today, said Poitras. A Facebook picture from last month shows Marsh proudly showing off an "N" or novice driver's licence.
"He had everything coming up for him."
Diffner remembers, when his own father died, Marsh was the one who drew him out of a "downward spiral."
"It was just the way he was. He could make anyone smile."
With files from Yvette Brend, Rafferty Baker and Brenna Rose